Half Human
by Zeldakaygee
Summary: Claire Jolie joins the USS Enterprise as a Cadet medical trainee. Her unique background as a betazoid presents her with opportunities and obstacles while traveling with the crew and a certain half Vulcan.
1. Chapter 1

"Jim, I never signed up to be a damned school teacher." Grumbled Chief Medical Officer Leonard McCoy as he loaded up medical supplies for the next five year mission.

It had been six months since Yorktown and the beloved USS Enterprise had finally been rebuilt, the crew reassembled and supplies restocked. With an unfortunate number of their crew members killed by Krall, there were many options to consider when staffing the vessel.

Captain James Kirk had, with advice from Spock and, ironically, McCoy, decided that becoming a training vessel would be an ideal solution without straining other Starfleet vessels.

McCoy cursed his agreement to the decision as soon as he found out he would be in part responsible for training a fourth year medical student.

"I can assure you that she is incredibly competent. In fact, I believe she is currently top of her class." Spock assured him, manually unloading a series of vials with samples of various antidotes and inoculations.

"A woman? Just what I needed. As if you two don't make my job hard enough." McCoy complained once again.

"I think you will find her very easy to work with. As a half betazoid she has no need or understanding of dishonesty and is very aware of other individual's feelings." Spock tried to assure him.

"A damned mind reader too, just perfect."

Kirk looked over at Spock, rolling his eyes in thinly veiled amusement. "You'll figure out an arrangement. Besides, after she graduates she will be reassigned, unless of course we decide to keep her permanently."

"Yes McCoy, you are, after all, always noting how unsatisfactory your work life balance is." Spock said, returning Kik's eye roll with a raised eyebrow.

"I hardly think that means we need a whole other doctor onboard." McCoy complained.

A cough came from behind them and they turned to see a young woman, likely in her mid 20s with wavy blonde hair and the signature black eyes of a betazoid. "Fortunately for you, I'm not quite a doctor." She put down the box of hyposprays, straightening her red cadet uniform. "Yet."

"Welcome aboard cadet, I trust you found your quarters easily." Kirk asked.

"Thank you Captain. Actually I have yet to go to my chambers. I wished to introduce myself to Dr. McCoy and offer my assistance." She turned to McCoy and smiled, hoping a friendly introduction may alleviate some of his apprehension. "I am Cadet Claire Jolie, reporting for duty." She extended a nervous hand.

McCoy grunted in greeting, shaking her hand unceremoniously before grabbing the box of hyposprays and storing them in the appropriate cabinets.

Spock turned to the new recruit, noting the slight look of disappointment on her face. She was, in his assessment, perhaps too sensitive for the environment on the USS Enterprise. "Cadet." He said, briefly acknowledging her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Commander." Claire said, choosing not to extend her hand, knowing the intimacy this gesture indicated in Vulcan culture.

"While I more than appreciate your dedication, your official duties don't begin until tomorrow. I believe your first task is helping Leonard confirm that all the medical files are up to date." Kirk said.

"Yes, I suppose there's no point in me being here right now." She smiled nervously, tucking a wave behind her ear. She had forgotten to get a haircut before being assigned to the Enterprise and was very aware that she was outside of regulation with her breast length tresses.

"I believe Commander Spock is on his way to the bridge, perhaps he can point you in the direction of crew quarters." Kirk suggested.

"I do not believe the cadet requires assistance to operate a lift." Spock said, his head cocked to the side.

"No, but she could use a kind welcome to the ship." KIrk gave him a pointed look.

Spock nodded curtly and turned to Claire. "If you are ready, I believe it would be prudent to leave Dr. McCoy to arrange the sick bay independently."

Claire looked around, noting the disarray with a certain level of dismay. She wanted to observe restocking in order to be more useful in the future. There was nothing she hated more than having to ask where things are. She glanced at Spock and smiled, happy to feel that he didn't share the same dismay as McCoy did in her presence.

Vulcans had always been difficult to read, with their emotions typically firmly ignored if they even had them. She was aware that Spock was half Vulcan. He was, after all, quite famous in Starfleet. It seemed being half vulcan made him not necessarily more emotional, but certainly his feelings were a bit closer to the surface. Occasionally she could read emotions, and sometimes even full thoughts if they were directly about her, but more often than not the thoughts moved too quickly to make much sense of at all.

If Spock's mind was a quiet desert, the captains mind was a raging ocean. His emotions were as variable as any human she had interacted with and perhaps a bit more intense. And very loud too.

Spock began walking toward the lift, expecting Claire to follow. As she walked away from Kirk she caught a flash of attraction coming from the captain. She unconsciously pulled down her skirt again, aware that the tight material liked to ride up as she walked.

'Typical that the ship I get assigned to has a perverted captain.' Claire thought. 'Damned uniform.'

Claire stood uncomfortably next to Spock in the lift. It took only a moment to reach the floor with crew quarters. They began walking down the long curved hallway together before Spock interrupted the tense silence.

"It is my understanding that you are half betazoid. Your race is not common among Starfleet personnel."

"Neither is yours," Claire said a bit too shortly, before hastily adding "Commander."

"It was not my intention to offend." Spock said, wondering what he could have said to irritate the woman.

"No, it's not what you said. You were thinking about how betazoids are supposedly a very sexually promiscuous group of people. It's an assumption I have had to often prove wrong." Claire said.

"I assure you, I was merely recollecting what I have learned about your people." Spock said, an eyebrow raised.

"I would request you try to remember that I am half human, just as you are. I was raised on Earth by my father and have had very limited interaction with other betazoids. I do not follow their traditions or their religion. Whatever information you have would best be ignored in my case." Claire said, trying to be composed despite her own feelings of frustration.

"Perhaps I should make myself more clear. I had made no assumptions about you. Nothing you have done has indicated to me anything other than normal sexual behavior."

"I hope nothing I have done has indicated any sort of sexual behavior."

"Your red nailpolish-" He started.

Claire cut him off. "Matches my uniform and is in regulation."

"Yes. You are correct." He decided, realizing he was not doing well at reading the social situation.

"I think you will find that I am characteristic of a betazoid in only a few ways. I'm uncommonly honest, have moderate telepathic ability, especially with other telepathic individuals, and I value art immensely, even for a betazoid."

"Do you belong to one of the houses?" Spock inquired.

"My mother was a member of the third house, the House of Health. Though I was conceived prior to her Phase. My father lost favor a few years after I was born and she married again." Claire commented.

"I understand. A common practice among betazoids." Spock said, nodding.

"Perhaps, but no less difficult for a young child."

Spock was unsure how to respond, choosing instead to change the subject. "How are you finding the Enterprise."

"It's quite beautiful. I always saw myself being sent to some far off base after graduation, and that may still happen, so I'm very happy to be assigned to a Constitution-class vessel."

"According to your file, you should have any choice of assignments after graduation." Spock said, confused by her assessment of her options.

"You didn't read very closely then." Claire said, her eyebrow quirked upward.

"I admit that I did not read past your scores." Spock said, displeased that she had pointed out a lapse in his usually very thorough investigation. There were over sixty new crew members, many of them cadets, and he had not had time to read through all their files.

"My scores are the best part of my files. I admit I do not have a great history with authority."

"Captain Kirk had various physical assault charges against him, all dropped. I can assure you that Starfleet is willing to overlook many things in the face of genuine value."

"Oh no, I mean I haven't had a great history with Starfleet authority." Claire cracked a smile at this. "I may have pissed off Admiral Marcus at one point. Before I went down the medical track they were considering me for psyops, for obvious reasons."

Spock looked at her with interest, indicating a desire for her to continue.

"In retrospect, he probably should have known it was a bad idea to have a telepath in his presence when he was keeping a 300 year old warlord a secret." She laughed. "Unfortunately, I only got the impression that he was warmongering, something I think most people around him could see. I should have kept that to myself but of course I said something. I ended up being reprimanded formally for disrespecting an Admiral of Starfleet. I ended up going into medical after that, essentially starting over my academy training."

"Based on your files I am confident you will make a perfectly serviceable doctor."

"Serviceable. That's the goal." Claire said cheerfully. "I believe these are my quarters." Noticing the door on the left which was labeled clearly with her name.

"I expect I will see you again soon." Spock said professionally, a bit off put by her candor.

Claire, sensing his feelings, smiled politely. "Of course. I promise to be less… chatty. I'm getting used to not being among peers."

"I will excuse it for the time being. You will find that the captain is especially lenient with his senior officers."

"As a cadet, I don't think I have earned that right."

"I hardly think it is a right earned by rank. I am under the impression it is earned through familiarity."

Claire nodded in understanding. "I'll see you soon I suppose."

Spock bowed slightly, turning around and heading back toward the turbolift.

Claire examined her new quarters. The room was quite small, but at least she didn't have a roommate.

She found cohabitating with anyone to be quite difficult, especially with her sensitivity to strong feelings. During her first year with Star Fleet she had been paired with an Orion woman who not only had many boyfriends over the year, but many extremely unfaithful boyfriends. She often found the emotional regulation of having a roommate so sexually and emotionally active to be more challenging than the course work, switching between hearing the lewd thoughts of her various beaus and then the inevitable emotional breakup. After that she had requested her own room, even offering to work on campus to make up for the additional cost.

Her room on the Enterprise consisted of a dresser and desk built into the wall, a full bed that would fit her slim body, but she had a hard time imagining a larger crew member would be comfortable in the bed, and a small half divider between them, presumably to create a separate space for entertaining. Claire had a difficult time imagining entertaining in such small quarters, but hoped she'd have the opportunity to anyway.

A door to her left led to a shared bathroom with a sonic shower and toilet, one she presumed she shared with another cadet. She lamented the loss of her bathtub, one of the only luxuries she had in her very outdated studio at the academy, but was otherwise pleased with the arrangements.

Claire pulled out her PADD, wanting to go over a few things before she began unpacking. Her schedule over the next week seemed sparse, mostly due to the fact that McCoy had yet to assign her any duties at all. She hoped that it was because he wanted to see where her skill level was at, and not due to an underlying desire to avoid working with her.

She had a few proctored classes and had even managed to sneak in an upper level of computer science into her schedule, but even those classes only took up around eight hours of her week. Her schedule did note that she was expected to be in the sick bay at eight AM sharp the next morning. She hoped that Dr. McCoy would rectify the situation upon her arrival.

Claire then turned to the task of turning her drab quarters into something even remotely tolerable. She had no windows. As an interior facing room she only had the stark white walls of the ship.

'This won't do at all.' She thought, tinkering on her PADD until she saw the lighting in the room change to a mix of purples and blues, making the walls and the room appear more colorful.

While unpacking her wardrobe, Claire also laid out a few decorative pillows and hung up a replica of her favorite painting: The Bed by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Her desk was relatively clear of items besides a picture of her father and her hugging. She considered for a moment making a trip down to the greenhouses to see if she could put together a bouquet to add a bit more color but decided it would have to wait. She was quite tired and she wanted to give herself a haircut before reporting for duty tomorrow morning.

Claire hoped she would have the opportunity to visit any number of planets, picking up small trinkets on the way to make the space more her own.

It was an exciting time in her life. Though she had traveled to Betazoid a handful of times in her life to visit her mother and her other siblings, Claire had otherwise not been able to explore the universe in quite the way she wanted to. She would not let a smarmy doctor get in the way of her enjoyment.

Or a judgemental Vulcan for that matter.


	2. Chapter 2

They were crooked. She had cut her bangs crooked. It was 7:30, a mere half hour before she was due to report and her bangs were at an obtuse angle.

"That's what I get for making decisions while half awake." She said to her reflection, carefully cutting her new bangs in a straight line. They were shorter than she had planned but would be serviceable for the time being.

Claire has traded her red cadet uniform with it's uncomfortably short skirt for something more appropriate for medical personnel. The blue uniform was more conservative, actually allowing her to bend over without concern, and giving her pockets. Only a woman can truly know the gift that is functional pockets in a work environment.

She took one last look at her reflection, noting the slight flush of frustration across her cheeks and her freshly cut hair. She'd have to find someone to cut it for her in the future, but it would have to do for now. Hopefully the CMO would be too busy avoiding her to notice.

Claire walked to sick bay, careful to not pick up on the emotions of the crew bustling to their own stations. Her own anxiety was enough, she did not need that of her crew members.

"Good morning Dr. McCoy." Greeted Claire, placing her PADD on an empty desk.

"Already assigning yourself space I see." He said, not even bothering to greet her.

"Well I just assumed since this is an empty desk that-"

"First thing you should learn: don't assume anything."

"I apologize. Where is my desk?" She asked, trying to maintain her composure.

McCoy grumbled something underneath his breath.

"I'm sorry, I missed that."

"That is your desk." He said, more clearly but still begrudgingly.

Claire let out a sharp exhale, holding back an intense desire to reprimand him for wasting her time. However, she wasn't even sure what she was supposed to be doing with her time besides wasting it. Instead she decided to take the high road.

"Sir, I remember you said something about making sure crew medical records were up to date. Would you like me to begin going through those files?"

"Assuming you are capable of that, yes."

"If they are in need of an exam or inoculation, would you like me to reach out to them to schedule it?"

"No, just send me a list. We have a few officers coming in today for exams. I would like it if you did a few of them so I could observe."

"Of course, I am more than happy to show you that I am a competent practitioner."

Claire turned to her PADD and began the arduous process of manually checking records. She briefly considered writing a program to check it for her, finding her own laziness to be her most valuable skill set, but thought it may be too early to rock the boat, so to speak.

Many of the personnel were her age, early thirties or so and in peak health. Claire knew she looked younger, the betazoid genes causing her to age at a slower rate despite her human level of intelligence. She found that especially frustrating in her early twenties when she appeared to the world as a girl around fifteen.

She was struck primarily by how many new crew members there were, which should not have surprised her considering the absolute decimation of the crew just six months prior. Many who survived had opted not to begin a five year residency.

There were a few families on board; Primarily couples who were both enlisted and their young children. Claire found quite a few of the children had upcoming vaccinations that were required for them.

She got about a quarter of the way through before McCoy knocked on the archway leading to her office space. "Your first patient, Jolly."

"It's Jolie, like the French word for pretty." Claire corrected him.

"French names on an alien woman. What will I see next?"

Claire didn't bother to hide her eye roll, knowing he wasn't looking at her.

As she passed him on the way to the exam room he handed her a PADD with the crew member's name on it.

Nyota Uhura, Communications Officer

Claire had heard about Lieutenant Uhura before. Her exemplary skills in linguistics as well as her savvy responses in stressful situations were legendary among female recruits. Certainly an intimidating first patient.

Uhura was already sitting on the medical bed when Claire entered the room, looking no less than the confident woman that she was portrayed as being.

Claire extended a hand in greeting. "Hello, I am Cadet Jolie, 4th year medical student. I will be conducting your exam today."

"Pleased to meet you Cadet."

Claire began looking through her file, scanning the room for a tricorder. With none in sight she resorted to opening drawers.

'Damnit,' she thought, 'this is why I wanted to be here for unpacking.'

"Top drawer on the left." Called McCoy from the doorway. Claire flushed a deep scarlet, acutely aware of the judgement that was radiating off McCoy.

Uhura, however, was much more patient. Claire felt that Nyota had yet to make an assessment of Claire and was waiting to see how she'd fair during the examination.

Claire grabbed a tricorder, making sure to run it under a sonic cleaner before approaching Uhura. She began the examination, scanning Nyota for any medical abnormalities and asking a series of questions to assess any needs she may have.

"Have you had any unusual symptoms since your last exam or any changes?" Claire asked, eyeing the tricorder display. Nothing abnormal to note.

"No, I've felt great."

"Perfect. I noticed there was some information regarding sexual health missing in your files." In fact it was missing in most of the personnel files for preexisting crew members. She wasn't sure if it was on purpose or if McCoy just got uncomfortable asking about the sex lives of his peers. "Are you currently sexually active?"

"No. I am not." A mild discomfort radiated from Uhura at the question, indicating Claire should tread lightly.

"Thank you for the information. If you anticipate that changing, please feel free to discuss options with Dr. McCoy or myself for your reproductive health. Otherwise my only advice is to continue what you are doing. If half my patients were as healthy as you I would have a much easier life."

Nyota stood up from the bed and said goodbye to both Claire and Leonard as she returned to the bridge.

"Do you really think it's appropriate to ask people about their sex lives when you first meet them?" McCoy asked, looking for something to nitpick.

"Well seeing as there was no information in her file, yes I did think it was necessary. It's very human to be afraid to talk about sexual health." Claire said, perhaps a bit too brashly.

"You sound like the damned pointy eared bastard." McCoy muttered.

"I merely think a comprehensive approach to health is important. If Lieutenant Uhura was active sexually without medication, I would like to be aware of any possible changes to her health." Claire said, hoping that would make her stance more clear. "Furthermore, I sense you are uncomfortable around the topic and wanted to make your life easier by taking it on."

McCoy sputtered for a moment, unsure how to respond to being called out. "I assure you I'm not afraid of sex."

"I never said that. But it does seem like you feel uncomfortable asking crewmembers about their own sex lives."

McCoy stared at her for a moment as if she'd suddenly sprouted pointy ears. "Your next patient is in a half hour. I expect you to continue working on the personnel files in the meantime."

Claire nodded and returned to her desk scrolling through the files once more and compiling her list. McCoy would occasionally call her in for another routine examination, no longer making comments about her choice of questions.

She had caught a few of the male officers noticing her black eyes and making many of the same assumptions that other cadets had at the academy. Though she likely wouldn't admit it, she had been a bit rough with a hypospray on one of the crewmembers with the more graphic thoughts.

Her most recent patient seemed to be almost oblivious to her, answering her questions with very little emotional response besides impatience to return to his post.

"Lieutenant Fletcher, have you had any unusual symptoms since your last checkup? I noticed an abnormally high level of testosterone." Claire asked.

"No." She could sense he was lying, suddenly even more impatient to leave the sick bay.

"Are you absolutely positive?" She pressed.

"I said no." He said, more than a little outwardly aggressive.

Claire was taken aback, but still wanted to explore her line of inquiry. "Can you think of any reason why you have a boosted testosterone level?"

"I just got done lifting weights." Another lie. Highly unusual.

"Alright well, I expect you shall come to either McCoy or myself should you start to feel any symptoms. And I'd like to keep an eye on your hormone levels."

"That's hardly necessary. I feel fine."

"Yes, well please consider it."

Fletcher left sickbay, walking quickly back to engineering when McCoy spoke up. "You shouldn't be so pushy."

"He was lying." Claire said, turning and looking at McCoy.

"About what?"

"About feeling well and about the cause of his high testosterone. He knows why his levels are high but he won't disclose."

"Why Cadet, I thought it would be obvious why a man would lie about something like that."

Claire tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brow.

"He probably is experiencing dysfunction in the bedroom and is supplementing with artificial testosterone. Really I'd think that would be obvious."

"He's very young to be having those issues, not even thirty, and he has no history of high blood pressure or indication of a psychiatric cause."

"Really Jolie, let this go. Humans lie about stupid things like this all the time."

"Who was lying about what exactly?" Said a voice from the entrance to sickbay.

Claire turned and made eye contact with Commander Spock, quickly bowing her head in respect. She was about to explain when McCoy interrupted her.

"Our cadet here thinks she is discovering a conspiracy theory. One of our engineering crew has high testosterone levels and lied about why." He almost looked amused as he explained the situation.

"The lie didn't feel like it was shamefully hiding something as innocuous as treating a sexual dysfunction." She replied.

"She's just an overly eager young cadet craving some sort of excitement. I remember when I first became a doctor." McCoy said.

"You were a family practitioner in rural America." Spock said, his eyebrow raised.

McCoy sputtered for a moment before saying "And now I am the Chief Medical Officer of the most advanced vessel in Starfleet."

"An accomplishment for any family practitioner I'm sure." Spock was teasing him at this point, Claire could tell. It delighted her to no end considering that Leonard had made her day rather unpleasant with his huffing about and complaints. "Now I believe I am due for a medical exam. Perhaps I can see this 'overly eager cadet' in action."

"Of course." Claire said, gesturing to the empty bed.

Spock sat down and Claire began examining him with the tricorder. In the academy there was a basic course in Vulcan anatomy and physiology that was optional for second year students. She had taken it primarily because it fit in her schedule but was thankful for it now as she saw the abnormally high heart rate flash across her screen. A less informed cadet might have been alarmed.

By the end of the exam they had established that Spock was in uncommonly good health. As she scrolled to the bottom of his file she noticed a note from approximately six and a half years ago regarding an incident of Pon Farr. This was prior to his time with the enterprise, though not by much and the details on how he had dealt with it were unclear.

"Commander, I do not wish to seem incompetent but I must ask: do you experience Pon Farr at the same frequency as others of your species?"

McCoy snorted from the corner of the room and she shot him a look.

"I do experience it every seven years." Spock said, raising an eyebrow at the question.

"It seems you have another Pon Farr approaching in four months. May I ask what arrangements you have made to assure your own safety as well as those around you?" She asked, trying to maintain a respectful professionalism about what she knew was a sensitive topic.

"I plan to meditate."

"Will you still be attending to your duties?"

"I see no reason why I should not."

"Commander, with all due respect I think meditation is a very effective method when one is not around other people, but I worry about the effectiveness of it on a crowded starship."

"I can assure you that it will be under control." His face was turning a yellow tinge, the Vulcan equivalent of flushing and she could sense his pride had been mildly wounded in their conversation.

"Of course. I trust your impeccable judgement."

With that Spock left sickbay to return to the bridge.

McCoy came up behind Claire and clapped her on the back, causing her to stumble forward slightly and nearly drop her PADD.

"You know, I had my doubts about you but I think you'll be a great fit." He said as she turned around to face him. "Any girl who can make Spock blush is my kind of girl."

"It wasn't my intention, I merely was concerned-"

"Yes well, wonderful first day. Absolutely wonderful. Very happy to have you Cadet Jolie."

Claire was confused for a moment before smiling cautiously at the man. He did seem to have a sudden attitude shift, now finding her to not only be competent but amusing. "Thank you sir, I'm very happy to be here."

"Of course! Now go restock the hyposprays."

Claire's smile dropped and she set about the menial task. For a first day, it wasn't that bad all things considered.

"Also nice hair. Trying to look like old pointy ears I see."

Her hand shot to her bangs.

'Shit, I knew I cut them too short.'


	3. Chapter 3

Despite Claire's initial apprehension, her first week on the Enterprise had been rather pleasant. McCoy had decided that she was an able enough doctor and she had been allowed to even begin helping him with his personal research. She realized after a while that his sense of humor was primarily based on complaining. While annoying occasionally, she was getting used to his constant whining. It usually meant he was in a good mood.

It was these human intricacies that always confused Claire as a betazoid. Her race was unerringly transparent, something outsiders occasionally found unnerving. Claire was no exception, though perhaps less so than a full betazoid. Every time she went to visit her mother she had to adjust for her mothers unreserved criticism, primarily regarding her lack of a gene bonded mate.

Of course Claire had options growing up. Her mother was powerful in the Third House, a prominent spiritual healer among her people. Even though Claire was half betazoid and rarely planet side many families saw an opportunity to ally themselves with the powerful family. Claire was, however, less inclined to make any decisions regarding mating. Her mother would have fully bypassed Claire's decision to abstain if not for her father's support, ensuring that Claire was unbonded for the foreseeable future.

This had resulted in Claire's mother, Liaxiya Tolbru, incessantly commenting about Claire's age and prospects. The fact that betazoids were not monogamous did not change her perspective, since she woefully predicted that Claire would be child and mateless, choosing instead the grueling and transient life of Starfleet officer. So far Claire had proved her right, opting at every turn to choose freedom and adventure over constriction.

However the Enterprise had shown itself to not be as adventurous as she had hoped. Perhaps she would have to wait patiently for a derelict spacecraft or mysterious alien illness, but so far her days had been predictable though interesting and her evenings mundane. When faced with a full weekend to occupy her time, Claire had come up empty.

Claire wasn't quite sure how the galaxy's most advanced spaceship could have such a limited supply of leisure activities that didn't involve sitting down, but it did. Back on earth she would have spent her days doing any number of things, but primarily she enjoyed the novelty roller skating rink on the outskirts of the city, blues and swing dancing and even the occasional pool hall. Either way she wasn't sitting still in front of a game of 3D chess in the mess hall in the middle of the night trying to relearn the game her father had taught her. Unfortunately that was where she found herself on this Saturday night.

The computer was taking it easy on her, she knew that. Her novice level experience with strategic play was very apparent as she stumbled through the game.

"I am unfamiliar with the technique you are implementing." The voice behind her made her jump as she dropped her game piece.

Claire put a hand on her chest and laughed as she realized it was Spock was interrupting her game. "Gods you scared me." She picked up the chess piece, placing it back on the board. "And that would because there is absolutely no technique. I'm allowing entropy to guide me."

"An unwise strategy." He said, his arms behind his back as he observed her.

"With a computer as a partner, the incentive to improve is rather low."

"I am sure other crew members would be happy to be partnered with you."

"Most people find mind reading to be an unfair advantage in an opponent."

"I was unaware your abilities were so advanced."

"They aren't but I can usually get an idea of when they are doing an important move. From there I can assess the situation."

"Are all moves not equally important?"

"Only if you care about the outcome I suppose."

"Is the point of the game not to win?" Spock asked, perplexed by her indifference.

"My goal, as it so often seems to be on this ship, is to not be bored."

"Do you find your duties boring, cadet?"

Claire sighed, realizing this was probably not an appropriate conversation to have with an officer. "My REM cycles work differently than that of humans and I require less sleep. On earth I was very active, usually doing physical activities at my leisure on any given evening. Outside of my duties I have a surplus of time and not much to do with it."

"There is a recreation hall on deck 3."

"Which I was at for 2 hours today." Claire was thoughtful for a moment. "I have considered that making friends may be helpful at this point but I'm bad at it."

Spock cocked his head to the side, as he had a habit of doing. "Was I wrong to think that betazoids were a social species?"

"You weren't wrong, but I have still not adjusted to humans lying. It makes me like them less and consequently they dislike me when I make them accountable for their lie." She explained. "I also apparently have a terrible sense of humor." She said dismissively, making a move before the computer called out a resounding "Check Mate."

"Damnit." She muttered before leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.

"As a Vulcan, I too require less sleep and often find myself playing chess alone. Perhaps I can teach you some techniques in order for you to be a worthy opponent."

"I'm not sure I can out logic a Vulcan."

"Between your telepathic ability and my logic, perhaps we will be more evenly matched."

Claire scoffed before looking up at him. "Sure, what's the harm. I suppose a Vulcan won't be bothered by honesty."

Spock looked confused for a moment. "As I am incapable of lying myself, I am not sure why I would have any reason to oppose another person being equally unable."

"Oh just sit down then." Claire said, ready to get started.

Spock sat down across from her, carefully rearranging the pieces back to their starting position.

"I don't suppose you will take it easy on me." She asked, knowing he likely wouldn't.

"You would not learn nearly as effectively." He replied.

Claire considered pouting, but decided against it. First Officers likely did not look fondly on bratty behavior, though she did have a propensity for it.

"The first thing to consider when starting a game of chess is to choose your strategy wisely. This can be done best when you know your opponent. However, not all players utilize the same strategy consistently, so there are many other factors to consider."

"How soon do you use the strategy?"

"Immediately. Your first goal typically is to occupy the center for tiles of the game. These four tiles offer you the most options for mobility." Spock pointed to the four tiles in the middle tier. "However, I think it would be wise for you to begin with a Sicilian defense. You were implementing a flawed variant of it against the computer."

Spock continued to explain the game to Claire, teaching her about fool's mate, pins, skewers, forks and the various other strategies. After a solid hour of teaching she finally cut him off.

"I think I will learn better by playing."

"Chest masters spend hours studying theory without ever touching a game piece."

"I am content being a layman. I shall embrace my mediocrity, celebrate it even. Now let's play."

The game was short. Claire tried to listen in on his thoughts but every move was given the same intentional thought as every other with no special weight attributed. He did occasionally pause to compliment a move or inform her of a missed opportunity, but was otherwise relatively quiet.

Claire was delighted to lose, noting that she was able to pinpoint the exact moves in which he gained his advantage.

"Another?" She asked, not quite ready to sleep.

"Cadet, I am afraid I do not have the same luxury of a weekend as you do. I must return to my quarters and rest adequately in order to perform my duties." He paused for a moment. "However, I would not oppose another game on some other evening."

Claire stood up, straightening her outfit. It was her Saturday so she had opted for a royal blue dress over a pair of purple leggings. Betazoids preferred to wear jewel tones, enjoying the beauty of the vibrant colors.

"Of course. Shall we say tomorrow evening?" She asked.

"I will be heading an away team planet side to assess the status of an abandoned mine. I do not think I will return until Monday." Spock replied.

"Of course. I am on call for injuries so better not get hurt. I don't want my day off ruined." She said, cracking a smile.

"Was that a joke cadet?"

"An attempt at a joke."

"I see. Fascinating."

She could tell he didn't find the joke funny but rather her attempt at humor to be amusing.

'Better charming than obnoxious.' She thought, noting that he didn't seem to dislike her poor attempts at humor as much as most humans did, finding her to be awkward. Which she admittedly was.

"Oh and commander, I wanted to apologize."

"You do not have to apologize for being a poor chess player. It is only to be expected-"

Claire cut him off. "No, not about that, though 'poor' seems like a bit of an exaggeration. I'm sorry for bringing up Pon Farr and questioning your preparedness."

"You were concerned for my health and that of the crew. It was wise to ask."

"Wise but perhaps inappropriate." She said. "I understand that Pon Farr is a rather private experience for vulcans. I also wasn't sure if you had a bond mate, as I know many vulcans bond at a young age."

"As do betazoids, from what I am aware."

Claire laughed. "Yeah, my mother loves to remind me of that. I am blissfully unmated. There are no strings on me."

"How fascinating, a pinocchio reference when discussing marriage. Do you think of marriage as being controlled?"

"Hardly, but being bonded to someone as a child seems hardly like a choice at all."

"I did have a mate, but she died when Vulcan was destroyed."

"I see." Claire was quiet for a moment, her expression softening. She tried to sense his emotions regarding the subject but could not determine his feelings. The only emotion that ran through him was a relative indifference. "I am truly sorry to hear that. I can't imagine losing as much as you did in a single day."

"There is no reason to be sorry." He said, his feelings still a steel wall of impassible logic. "Besides, I had very little communication with T'Pring over the course of the years and was under the impression that she preferred my absence."

"I would say that she missed you, but I imagine you have a better assessment of her affections than I do."

"I was informed she had taken an interest in another male as a possible mate." He replied.

Claire couldn't help but chuckle, immediately realizing how inappropriate that was, she stopped laughing. "I'm sorry. I did not realize infidelity was an issue on vulcan. I always thought you were ruled by more logical impulses."

"I am sure he was a more logical choice in a partner than I was. I do not doubt her reasoning. Her logic was usually impeccable."

"I don't suppose you ever feel obligated to leave Starfleet and join your people on New Vulcan?"

"I have been encouraged to explore the possibilities aboard the Enterprise. Should the captain no longer require my advice, perhaps then will I reconsider taking a role on New Vulcan." He paused for a moment. "Perhaps you will leave Starfleet upon entering your Phase."

Claire let out a genuine full bodied laugh, partially caused by the question but also by his clear discomfort around the subject. "Oh that pesky old thing. I'm not sure. As a half betazoid I can only hope it's half as powerful. But seeing as I have been happily single for a very long time, I don't worry too much about it. I doubt I will suddenly desire a mate."

"Pon Farr has no such luxury."

"So I have studied." Claire paused. "This seems silly to say, but should you decide meditation is not effective, I can attempt some telepathic practices to ease your. I have a low level of projection skills most of the time, but I have found that I am slightly more skilled with other telepathic beings."

"I will consider your offer. I highly doubt it will come to that."

"But if it does." Claire tapped her forehead and winked. "I'm a real killjoy when I need to be."

"I will make a note of that."

"Yes, please add it to my file."

"I doubt that is necessary information to include in your personnel records."

"That was a joke."

A flash of enjoyment flashed through his mind, making Claire smirk. "Perhaps you need lessons in both humor and chess." He said, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Can't wait."


	4. Chapter 4

Hello all,

This is obviously not a chapter. I just wanted to update you all, especially considering that I will not be posting a chapter this week. I live in an area significantly impacted by COVID-19 and while I am fortunate enough to be young, healthy and financially stable, I am still experiencing a lot of personal distress.

On top of that I was nearly kidnapped on Saturday night. Thats not an exaggeration. I've been pretty emotionally raw and while I have been working through things creatively, it has primarily been through music.

I will be back soon, but I'm giving myself time to heal.

Stay healthy and stay safe. The world is fucking scary right now.


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